Ethan Hansen -

Written by Estela Villanueva-Whitman

At age 24, Ethan Hansen doesn’t fit the stereotype of a colorectal cancer survivor. But he’s the perfect example of the importance of early detection: Seeking help for his symptoms was instrumental in catching his cancer at stage 2.Hansen is one of the young survivors promoting Get Your Rear in Gear, a fundraiser Saturday for Davids Fight, a local nonprofit that builds colorectal cancer awareness.Because he was adopted from India as an infant, Hansen didn’t know his family history, but genetic testing at the Mayo Clinic helped determine his treatment plan. He hopes to assist other young adults coping with colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death in Iowa, yet also the most preventable and treatable if detected early.When did you learn you had colon cancer and what were your symptoms?I didn’t have much energy and was really fatigued. I used to work out and didn’t go to the gym a whole lot anymore. I just thought it was from that. Those were the major symptoms besides noticing I had blood in my stool. A year before I had the same thing and the doctor did some tests, but couldn’t find anything. They didn’t do a colonoscopy then because I was so young.I was scheduled for a physical with a new doctor and they called me later that day and said they noticed my hemoglobin was very low — a four. Right away, she scheduled me for a colonoscopy. I went the next week and that’s when they found the tumor.What treatment routine did you follow?Toward the end of May 2012, I stayed in Rochester for a month and had radiation and chemo, which I took orally. I came home to Des Moines for about a month, then went back to Rochester for the surgery to remove the tumor. They took out quite a bit of my colon and removed the rectum, then they did an ileostomy. I came back home in August and by September I had another round of chemo for four months.How did you get involved with Get Your Rear in Gear?I got hooked up last year as I was going through this. We have a family friend who helped set up a team for me last year. When I went to the event, I met David (McCluskey, founder of Davids Fight) and talked with him a little bit.As a young cancer survivor, what message do you want to send to younger generations?I stayed positive and that helped me stay focused, taking it as an experience as well. I never expected to have cancer and sure enough it hits you. If it happens, it’s all part of a plan.Since this experience, I’ve learned so much about it and I’m going to try to do as much as I can to raise awareness and get people to not only get screened, but to help them get through it.